ONION. 109 



The ordinary garden-hoes do not work well in the 

 onion fields ; a wornout one that has been cut down 

 to one half its width, so as to leave the corners acute, 

 will work pretty well. All tools should be kept as 

 sharp as the steel will permit ; a dull hoe will soon use 

 up more time than would pay for a new one. 



THE OLD PLAN. 



The primitive method of raising onions is to grow 

 the seed in the field where the crop is to grow. This 

 method is still followed in many onion-growing sec- 

 tions. Prepare the land in the same way as you would 

 for setting out. Sowing is best done by a seed-drill. 

 Set the drill so it will sow from twelve to thirty-six 

 seed to the linear foot, according to the variety and 

 the germinating quality of the seed. Make the rows 

 from fifteen to twenty inches apart. During dry 

 weather, the seed is very slow to germinate. I have 

 known it to lie in the ground for six weeks without 

 any perceptible change. To anticipate such a condi- 

 tion, one should mix radish or rape seed with the 

 onion seed in such proportion that one of these seeds 

 will be dropped about every foot. Eadish and rape 

 seeds spring up very quickly and are easily seen. This 

 will mark the rows so cultivation can be carried on 

 before the onions are up. If a beating rain occurs 

 before the onions are up, or as they are just appear- 

 ing, it is liable to smother the young and tender seed- 

 lings, but by cultivating after a heavy rain the water 

 draws off rapidly and does less damage. (Of course, 

 this cannot be practiced on strong clay soil.) 



It is only in an exceptional year that onions can be 

 grown with profit in this way on weedy land. Keep 

 down all weeds in the middle by the use of a hoe or a 

 wheel-hoe. The weeding, or removing of weeds from 

 the row, is, at best, a slow and expensive task ; often 



